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Hagan cosponsors bill to help North Carolina forestry, timber and paper industries
Story Date: 5/3/2013
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Source: PRESS RELEASE, 5/2/13
U.S. Senator Kay Hagan today announced that she is cosponsoring the bipartisan Forest Products Fairness Act. The bill, sponsored by Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), would open new opportunities for forestry producers by allowing their products to qualify for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) BioPreferred Program.
“This bill will help to level the playing field for forestry products in the marketplace,” said Hagan. “It is important that we make sure our forestry, timber and paper industries can continue to thrive. When these industries are thriving, they create jobs and provide important products to North Carolina at lower costs. I urge my colleagues to come together and pass this commonsense legislation.”
“The NCFA appreciates Senator Hagan’s support of the Forest Products Fairness Act,” said NCFA Executive Vice President Bob Schaefer. “The forest products industry is North Carolina’s top manufacturing industry with a direct employment of over 67,000 North Carolinians and consists of over 2,300 forest products facilities across the state. Collectively, the forest products industry provides the critical marketplace for North Carolina’s forest landowners and is the top economic incentive for these forest landowners to continue to grow trees and manage their forests for aesthetics, recreation and products.”
The USDA Biopreferred program promotes the increased purchase and use of biobased products. Products that are labeled “USDA Certified Biopreferred” are given preference by federal agencies when making purchasing decisions.
Currently, many forest products are unable to receive the “USDA Certified Biopreferred” label because any product in production before 1973 is considered too mature for the label. Since most forestry products have been in production before 1973, they are barred from the biobased preferred designation and from receiving government procurement preference. There are more than 5,000 products that we use every day that come from trees including lumber, paper, furniture, and countless products that include some derivative of a tree in its composition.
The bill has received broad support from companies and organizations in North Carolina and nationwide, including Weyerhaeuser, International Paper, Boise Inc., the NC Forestry Association the Forest Landowners Association, the American Forest & Paper Association, the American Wood Council, the National Alliance of Forest Owners, the Hardwood Foundation and Domtar.
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